The archive · Content & Film · Strategic decision · 2022
East Buy's bilingual livestream turns teachers into hosts — 10M+ followers in a week
New Oriental's pivot made teachers sell produce while teaching English; after a viral clip on 10 June, East Buy gained 10M+ followers in a week.
East Buy (东方甄选) · New Oriental (新东方)
What it had to solve
New Oriental announced it would end K-9 training by end-2021 and lost billions; Yu Minhong launched East Buy selling farm produce on 28 December 2021, but after six months peak live audiences often stayed under 5,000.
How it works
In June 2022 East Buy, the livestream arm of tutoring giant New Oriental, suddenly exploded. Former English teaching director Dong Yuhui sold farm produce while teaching English and telling stories about literature and life; a clip of his show spread virally, and 'bilingual livestream selling' became the new label of Chinese e-commerce.
The account had been lukewarm since Yu Minhong launched it on 28 December 2021, with peak audiences usually under 5,000. On 10 June a two-minute clip of Dong went viral and that night concurrent viewers passed 100,000; by 16 June daily viewers exceeded 60 million, peak concurrency hit 666,000, and daily sales reached ¥68.808 million.
Per The Paper, East Buy gained over 10 million followers in a week and New Oriental Online's stock surged more than 300%, rising 72.71% on 16 June alone. Lianhe Zaobao confirmed the account passed 10 million followers by the afternoon of 16 June and rose to the top of Douyin's sales charts.
Why it lands
- It transplanted teachers' core skill into a sales scene — a differentiation no shouting could copy
- Bilingual, poetry and life-essay content density dwarfed traditional call-out live selling
- Clip-friendly structure suited short-video platforms; two minutes ignited the fire
- 'Buy rationally' and 'cheap grain hurts farmers' matched the mood of a livestream crackdown era
What it did
Per The Paper, daily sales rose from ¥512,000 on 6 June to ¥68.808 million on 16 June, with daily viewers passing 60 million; the account gained 10M+ followers in a week and New Oriental Online's stock surged over 300%, up 72.71% on 16 June alone.
What you can take
When a category competes on price, differentiate with what the team is best at — put teaching into selling. 'We sell rice, and three meals and four seasons' is the memory that makes the sale.
Since then
After the breakout East Buy topped Douyin's sales charts, then faced quality complaints and a Tencent stake sale as hype cooled; the company scaled the host formula into private-label and tourism streams, and knowledge-driven selling became a widely copied category.
Sources
- 爆火的新东方直播：被捧杀还是救命稻草 (Why New Oriental's livestream exploded)
- “双语带货”反响热烈 新东方粉丝破千万 (Bilingual selling pushes New Oriental past 10M followers)
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